Press release The Magritte Museum: 7 years of international influence

Press release
7 June 2016
For the use of Dominion of Light, 1954 : © Charly HERSCOVICI, with his kind authorization – c/o SABAM-ADAGP / For the conception of the decorative cover : © GDF SUEZ
The Magritte Museum: 7 years of international influence
7 years ago, in June 2009, the Magritte Museum opened its doors to the
public. Today, over 2 million visitors have contemplated and continue
to admire the largest art collection of Magritte in the world.
The Museum has contributed to 19 international exhibitions, including in
New York, Tokyo and soon also Paris and Frankfurt. New lenders,
increasingly attracted by the influence of the Museum, entrust their
precious Magrittes to the institution (over 31 new works in 1 year!).
Unpublished projects are also planned with the fiftieth anniversary of
the artist’s death in sight in 2017.
The Magritte Museum: some numbers
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+ 2,000,000 visitors in 7 years
•
Average of +300,000 visitors a year: the success of the large retrospective
exhibition organized in 1998 has become an annual success!
•
N°1: the largest collection of works by René Magritte
•
N°1: the most important collection of works from his “vache” period
•
234 works and archives displayed on 2,500 m² and over 5 floors
•
120 m² of space for pedagogical and creative workshops
•
1st sponsorship/public-private partnership in the art field
•
65% of foreign visitors
•
8 nominations and awards
•
+ 800 VIPs were received in the Magritte Museum
• Visioguides in 6 languages (French, Dutch, English, German, Spanish and Italian)
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• Guided tours in 10 languages (French, Dutch, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek,
Japanese, Russian and sign language)
• European premiere: 1 tablet (with touchscreen) for the deaf and hard of hearing
• + 10,000 people received a “made to measure” visit (visually impaired, hearing
impaired, disabled, socially isolated)
International radiance
Since several years, major international museums rely on the expertise of the Royal
Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium to organize exhibitions devoted to the artist and his
work.
With the unwavering support of the Magritte Foundation, our institution has
collaborated with 19 major international exhibitions in recent years. After major
exhibitions at MoMA New York, the Menil Collection in Houston and the Art Institute
of Chicago, the Magritte Museum has played a vital role in the largest retrospective
ever dedicated to Magritte, in the National Art Centre of Tokyo and the Municipal
Museum of Art in Kyoto. This exhibition in Japan experienced an attendance record
of 533,354 visitors.
In the following months, the Magritte Museum will collaborate in the following
exhibitions:
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Centre Pompidou, Paris: “The Treachery of Images”
21.09.2016 > 23.01.2017
•
Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt: “The Treachery of Images”
10.02.2017 > 05.06.2017
The American Friends of the Magritte Museum was founded in 2015, a club created
and chaired by Wilbur Ross.
This international exposure can also be measured on a national level, as the Magritte
Museum, which attracts over 65% of foreign visitors, significantly contributed to the
economy of Brussels and Belgium.
A complete and dynamic collection
The Museum does not only house the largest, but also most representative
collection in the world of the artist. The full range of artistic media used by Magritte
are represented: paintings, gouaches, drawings, sculptures and painted objects,
advertising posters, musical scores, photographs and films. Moreover, his entire
career, including the unknown periods, is shown.
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Among the major works on display at the museum, the public likes to come back to:
The Dominion of Lights - MMM has 2 versions of the existing 17 (including 6 gouaches),
The Domain of Arnheim, Black Magic, The Unexpected Response, The Treachery of
Images (drawing), The Man of the Sea, or The Blank Page (last completed painting by
Magritte).
René Magritte, The Dominion of LIght, 1954, oil on canvas, inv. 6715, RMFAB, Brussels, photo: J. Geleyns / Ro scan © Ch.
Herscovici, with his kind authorization c/o SABAM, Belgium - René Magritte, The Blank Page, 1969, oil on canvas, inv.
10711, RMFAB, Brussels, photo: J. Geleyns / Ro scan © Ch. Herscovici, with his kind authorization c/o SABAM, Belgium René Magritte, The Good Faith, 1964-1965, oil on canvas, private collection, photo: Ludion © Ch.Herscovici, with his
kind authorization c/o SABAM, Belgium
The collection includes important legacies from those who were close to Magritte,
such as the Scutenaire-Hamoir or Gillion-Crowet families.
Dynamic, the Magritte Museum constantly renews the visitor experience. In 2015, 140
works were moved within the Museum (loans, restorations, rotations of works). 31
new works, lent by private collectors, came to the museum (15 oil paintings and 16
works on paper).
Some new works on display at the Magritte Museum:
René Magritte, The Return of the Flame, 1943, oil on canvas, private collection, photo: J. Geleyns / Ro scan © Ch.
Herscovici, with his kind authorization c/o SABAM, Belgium - René Magritte, TheDomain of Arnheim, 1962, gouache on
paper, private collection, photo: J. Geleyns / Ro scan © Ch. Herscovici, with his kind authorization c/o SABAM,
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Belgium - René Magritte, [Plant with Word], 1929, oil on canvas, private collection, photo: J. Geleyns / Ro scan ©
Ch.Herscovici, with his kind authorization c/o SABAM, Belgium
Scientific expertise
The life and work of René Magritte are the subject of ongoing research within the
Museums. A partnership with the ULB and the Bernheim Foundation (International Chair
Bernheim "Belgian Surrealism and European art") has supported researchers and shed
new light on the work of Magritte. 8 essays and 2 doctoral theses, supported by the
Chair, are devoted to Surrealism.
Publications of the Museums:
The book "Magritte, the visible poet and other texts (1951-2007)"
shows the interest and friendship from the art historian and author Dr.
Philippe Roberts- Jones towards a great master of contemporary art.
This book includes an essay first published in 1972, followed by a
series of articles published between 1951 and 2007. The relevance of
these analyses deserved to be reprinted in one work.
"An American Connection"
All Magritte letters to two US collectors, Barnet Hodes and William
Copley, are reproduced for the first time, as well as a large part of the
artworks mentioned in these correspondences. A new and personal
light is shed on the US relations of René Magritte.
A critical edition of the correspondence between René Magritte
and his dealer in the US, Alexander Iolas. The book will be in the form
of an edition of letters, annotated, with an introduction about
Magritte and the American art market as well as a focus on his
relationship with Iolas. (Expected publication in 2017 in collaboration
with the Menil Collection in Houston, on the occasion of the 50th
anniversary of Magritte’s and the 30th anniversary of Iolas’ death).
"Magritte & Marcel Lecomte" (work title)
Marcel Lecomte was a writer, art critic and even worked at the
Museums. It is thanks to him that Magritte discovers the work of
Giorgio de Chirico that will revolutionize his vision of painting. In
addition to the relations they had, the book will present unpublished
texts Lecomte about Magritte in the correspondence between the
two friends and accomplices. (Published: November 2016, 50 year
anniversary of the death of Lecomte).
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2017, anniversary year
2017 will be the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Magritte. Many projects
are under construction, including an exhibit demonstrating the continued strong
presence of René Magritte in contemporary creation. His influence and his legacy
are for instance found in Gavin Turk, George Condo, Sean Landers, Raymond
Pettibon, Robert Longo, ...
Marcel Broodthaers, Model : The Pipe, 1969, private collection - Gavin Turk, Oscar II, 2000, private collection - MarcelLouis Baugniet, René Magritte, 1967, inv. 7753, RMFAB, Brussels/ photo: Photo d'art Speltdoorn & Fils, Brussels © SABAM
Belgium
This is not a pencil
Very committed to the safety of the works but equally to the delight of its visitors, the
Museum was able to adapt its rules in agreement with the lenders. Following their
wish to preserve their works in the most complete way possible, photographs and
reproductions by drawing were initially banned. Now only 5 works throughout the
whole museum are concerned by that rule and are indicated with a specific symbol.
The maximum capacity of the rooms is still an important factor when controlling the
flow of people entering the museum at the same time.
Press images
You can download the images in high resolution here : http://down.fine-arts-museum.be/magritte.zip
Practical information
Tuesday > Friday | 10:00 > 17:00
Saturday > Sunday | 11:00 > 18:00
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
Place Royale 1 | 1000 Brussels
www.fine-arts-museum.be
Press relations
Communication
Samir Al-Haddad
T + 32 2 508 34 08 M + 32 472 50 00 14
samir.al-haddad@fine-arts-museum.be
Isabelle Bastaits
T + 32 2 508 34 09 M + 32 479 24 99 04
isabelle.bastaits@fine-arts-museum.be
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